The present invention relates generally to virtual local area networks (LAN). More particularly, the present invention relates to secure VLANs for voice communications.
Local area networks (LANs) are often deployed in environments that permit unauthorized devices to be attached to the LAN, or that permit unauthorized users to attempt to access the LAN through equipment already attached to the LAN. Examples of such environments include corporate LANs that provide connectivity in public conference rooms. One approach to securing VLANs in such LANs is to employ authentication mechanisms such as those are specified in IEEE Standard 802.1x.
However, in the case of a voice VLAN, authentication mechanisms cannot be employed because the Internet-Protocol (IP) phones are not able to comply with authentication mechanisms. Because voice VLANs are not secure, they are vulnerable to attacks such as denial-of-service attacks.